’Hounds knock Karns City for a loop
Wilmington (50) vs. Karns City (7)
Written: Sep 18, 2010
 By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
Wilmington High’s offense got off to an atypical start last night against Karns City.
After scoring 40 points in each of their previous two games, the Greyhounds came away with zilch on back-to-back, game-opening forays into the red zone against the Gremlins.
Wilmington’s defense, though, was as stout as ever, keeping Karns City bottled up in its own end both times and eventually notching a safety that put the ’Hounds off and running to a 50-7 nonconference win on their home field.
Sutton Whiting rolled up 114 yards rushing and two touchdowns on eight carries for Wilmington (3-0), but junior linebacker/wide receiver Ryan Crawford made the play that seemed to get the slow-starting ’Hounds untracked.
A 52-yard punt return by Whiting got Wilmington red-zone field position on its first possession, but the Greyhounds turned the ball over on downs at the 20. Their next possession ended similarly, with Karns City getting the ball back at its own 7.
“It was a little frustrating,” Whiting said, “but I knew our offense would get going. And we did.”
Not, though, until Crawford exploded cleanly through the Gremlins’ line and dropped running back Glenn Toy in the end zone for an 8-yard loss and a 2-0 Wilmington lead.
“We were coming out slow on offense,” Crawford said. “We just needed to get hyped up and I think that safety really brought us into the game.
“We knew they had this formation; I just knew what the play was, so I just got in there and made the tackle.”
Wilmington head coach Terry Verrelli credited Crawford with making a timely play, but added that his team’s early offensive sluggishness wasn’t causing him a lot of concern.
“That was obviously a big time in the game right there,” he said. “But you just have to be patient, and you’ll get it back. You’ve got to get a feel for the game.
“Sure, you watch films to prepare for the game, but the other teams watch films, too, and come in here with some different things. You gotta get a feel and as you go along, things start to work.”
And how.
Wilmington scored on its next six possessions, adding a 35-yard run from Jake Devido; runs of 10 and 20 yards from Anthony Derrick; Whiting’s 1- and 60-yard runs; and a 14-yard pass from Josh Tekac to Crawford.
The last score on that list was set up one play earlier when Crawford intercepted a pass near midfield and returned it to the 14.
“I got back in my zone and I saw the quarterback, and I think he got rushed (by Jon Yohman), so our linemen did a real good job,” Crawford said. “I just picked it off and I tried to score,. I almost got there, but I got stopped.”
But only for one play, until Tekac found him in the corner of the end zone on first down.
“We practice that play, I knew it was coming sometime in the game and I was just looking forward to it,” Crawford said. “It felt real good. Our split ends haven’t got a touchdown yet, so we needed that.”
Reserve running back Josiah Bloise rounded out the scoring on a 35-yard, fourth-quarter run.
The Gremlins managed only a third-quarter, 20-yard touchdown pass form Dylan Hipple to Luke Gordon, long after the mercy rule already had kicked in. Overall, Karns City eked out just 121 total yards, including a minus-12 rushing in the first half.
“There’s two sides to the ball and you’ve got to play good on both sides of it,” Verrelli said. “The defense really did a great job tonight, they held them, got us the ball back, and eventually with the backs that we have and the job that they’re doing, we’re going to put some points on the board.”
KARNS CITY WILMINGTON
8 First downs 14
128 Yards Rushing 304
47 Yards Lost 9
81 Net Rushing 295
6 Passes Attempted 10
3 Passes Completed 5
2 Passes Intercepted 0
40 Yards Passing 88
121 Total Yards 383
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
4-34.3 Punts-Average 1-28
2-15 Penalties-Yards 2-10
KARNS CITY 0 0 7 0 — 7
WILMINGTON 9 20 14 7 — 50
Scoring plays
WILMINGTON — Safety, Ryan Crawford tackled Glenn Toy in end zone.
WILMINGTON — Jake Devido, 35-yard run (Harrison Sturm kick).
WILMINGTON — Anthony Derrick, 10-yard run (Sturm kick).
WILMINGTON — Derrick, 20-yard run (Brandon Ryder kick).
WILMINGTON — Sutton Whiting, 1-yard run (kick failed).
WILMINGTON — Whiting, 60-yard run (Slavi Pontius kick).
WILMINGTON — Ryan Crawford, 15-yard pass from Josh Tekac (Ryder kick).
KARNS CITY — Luke Gordon, 20-yard pass from Dylan Hipple (Adam Garing kick).
WILMINGTON — Josiah Bloise, 35-yard run (Ryder kick).
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